Pontecorvo, who was a communist, undoubtedly sympathized with the Algerians. The FLN began their campaign in shooting military police in the Casbah, the predominantly Muslim quarter of the city, as they were able to blend back into the scene with the support of the populace. Those torture scenes are laid out in montage for us without any self-conscious emotional affect or drama; they include blowtorching the suspect's naked torso, waterboarding, and clipping electrodes to the earlobes before hand-cranking the voltage.

Whatever they made of The Battle of Algiers at the Pentagon, this is a must-see for everyone else now.

Still, I’m grateful for work like this. Famously, the Pentagon arranged a special in-house screening in 2003, evidently fascinated by exactly the same qualities that have mesmerised the movie's followers elsewhere: its icy candour on the subjects of counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, and the vital importance of torture in eliciting information. This isn’t at all what I was expecting from an Italo-Algerian collaboration, filmed on location more than 50 years ago, in a country that was relatively unstable.

The prosecution claimed that the Panthers used the movie to train themselves on the tactics of urban guerilla warfare.

Specific incidents in this battle in Algiers between 1954 and the time of independence in 1962 are presented. In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.

A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it.

The actual Battle of Algiers, depicted in this highly acclaimed motion-picture, was a horrifically brutal and bloody conflict between members of Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN) and French government forces.

The native population was living under an occupying force that failed to grant them the same rights as whites.

Some French young men trip him.

The two clash. It is of its time in many ways, yet somehow more extreme, and more contemporary, than anything else around. (Both French and Arabic are spoken throughout the movie, again underscoring Pontecorvo’s dedication to realism.) The viewer gets the impression that Pontecorvo has sprinkled actual news footage throughout the film, but all of the scenes were staged. Rather than vilifying either French forces or FLN rebels, Pontecorvo exposes the rationals that both sides used to justify various acts of brutality. No nonsense about hearts and minds: this is a military solution to a military problem.

In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight … This week I re-watched an unforgettable film that I discovered in 2013 while writing a paper on Algeria. Parents Guide.

T he rerelease of Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 black-and-white film The Battle of Algiers, recreating France's suppression of the 1950s Algerian uprising, … The Battle Of Algiers, Cinematic Portrait Of The Algerian Revolution, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window). In the middle of the film, one of the FLN’s chief commanders explains to the film’s leading combatant, “It’s hard enough to start a revolution, even harder to sustain it, and hardest of all to win it,” prophetically adding, “but, it’s only after we win that the real difficulties begin.” Since independence, Algeria has seen more cruelty and bloodshed than any people or country should have to withstand. I’m not particularly fond of old, black-and-white movies, especially those in the warfare category.

For those that choose the Youtube option, embedded below, a brief warning: the subtitles in the beginning are delayed but eventually line up with the action of the movie. Instead, Gillo Pontecorvo, in his 1966 film, The Battle of Algiers, presents the war uniquely in terms of the FLN against the French paratroopers. He is the centrepiece to the most remarkable sequence, captured on the film's poster. They now know where the last of the leaders of the freedom fighters, Ali Pointe is hiding and the French commander gives him thirty seconds to surrender. The French government sends the military forces under the command of the abusive Colonel Mathieu that does not respect the human rights and uses torture to destroy the NLF command.

While Pontecorvo strived for neutrality, most viewers will take the side of the Algerians. American war films almost always glorified one side of the conflict while demonizing the other. In 1967, it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. I can well imagine that the fear on the actors’ faces is often genuine. In searching for background information, I learned that The Battle of Algiers is the only film to be nominated for an Oscar in two non-consecutive years. In 1971, during a trial for members of the Black Panthers, jurors were asked to watch the film.

The film is a depiction of the Battle for Algiers, a segment of the Algerian war that charted the course for freedom.

In 1954, the National Liberation Front of Algiers shots many French policemen beginning a movement for the independence of their country; in return, the Chief of Police plants a bomb in the Arab quarter, killing many dwellers.

(The movie contains mild levels of violence compared to today’s entertainment standards). After all, there’s no way to deny the prevalence of colonial oppression. Forced to leave their homes and motherland, these white Algerians felt abandoned and betrayed by French President Charles DeGaulle, believing that a peaceful solution had been possible. Pontecorvo was devoted to reality, daring to depict scenes of terrorism and torture.

1954.

Plot Keywords

"... so they will be able to hide more easily in the Arab quarters." These scenes are presented without any of the internal humanising or dramatising conflict that would be considered vital now: they do indeed look almost like a military training film.

If anything, the overarching message of The Battle of Algiers is that the price of war is hard to justify no matter what side you’re on. Nonetheless, his film unequivocally shows that members of the FLN were responsible for the loss of scores of innocent lives. He strides easily, casually, with no sidearm on show, utterly confident in the power of the spectacle he has created. The movie is filmed in a documentary style, attempting to maintain a nonbiased representation of both parties involved. Similar claims have been made about the film’s use by the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Irish Republican Army, and other rebel groups. While watching the movie, I noted that it almost immediately starts (during the opening credits) with a song which I will call the European Fight song. Having enjoyed the soundtrack, I was also pleased to discover that Pontecorvo worked with the venerable Ennio Morricone, who died in July, to create much of the music for the film. 1954 marks the beginning of the Algerian War of Independence that officially ended on July 2, 1962. Close to one million inhabitants of the region were of European origin, mostly living in metropolitan areas like the city of Algiers. More than a groundbreaking production, filmed without professional actors, The Battle of Algiers continues to have an international influence. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! So, when I stumbled upon this film on Youtube, I wasn’t expecting it to hold my attention for 121 minutes. Not so in The Battle of Algiers. A spokesperson explained, ”showing the film offers historical insight into the conduct of French operations in Algeria, and was intended to prompt informative discussion.” Evidently, the question of how to combat armed insurgents that employ terrorist tactics, then retreat into the shadows, remains largely unanswered. Your email address will not be published. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove.

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Copyright © 2017-2020 Carol A. Seidl.

In 2003, the pentagon presented The Battle of Algers to an audience of 40 officers and civilian experts. Cameramen carried shoulder-mounted equipment to easily follow the action in and out of tight surroundings. The score also includes St. Mathew’s Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach. Synopsis Then the keyword was "Arab" and it easy to forget that as recently as the first Iraq war in 1991, the question was whether a putative brotherhood of Arab nations would support Saddam. In 1962, the Algerians finally achieve their aimed independence. Perhaps even more trailblazing is Pontecorvo’s use of female characters. Learn how your comment data is processed. Military and militant organizations alike, still use the film to gain insights into how to combat or wage a sustained insurgency. Gillo Pontecorvo was a ground-breaking filmmaker whose body of work continues to influence the world’s great directors. Here, female resisters, while not leaders, still play a significant role in the FLN’s effort to break France’s stranglehold over Algeria.

However, the French delegation refused to attend the screening. France, after the independence of the nations comprising Indochina, turns its attention to incidents in French Algeria, which they have ruled for approximately one hundred thirty years. Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo. | Granted, the audio dubbing of gunfire sounds a bit rickety now, and the way the intertitles switch between Italian and French is eccentric, but everything else makes this a newer-than-new release. Mathieu's face moves in and out of shadow on this sunny day: the result of the natural light that Pontecorvo is using, and integral to his "newsreel" effect. But Pontecorvo shows them in terms of strategy.

Another sort of director, possessed of a more conventional liberal scruple, might have felt the need to show a torturer's inner pain or the torturee's hidden backstory. Required fields are marked *. The anti-hero is Colonel Mathieu, played by Jean Martin, the paratroop commander entrusted by the French government with putting down the Algerian revolt.

Ultimately, however, it is proven to disastrous as a strategy. |

Pontecorvo used actual explosives in many scenes. Despite the accolades that followed, The Battle of Algiers got off to a rocky start. Threatened by its potential to incite insurrection, countries including South Africa, Iran, and Mexico have at one time or another banned the movie. In the next scene you have the commander again speaking to some young men who are hidden in a wall.

The Battle of Algiers is available on Amazon Prime or you can watch it for free, as I did, on Youtube. The NLF sends three women with bombs to two bars and the Air France office in the European quarter, killing many people.

In the movie Battle of Algiers sound is manipulated in many different ways.

The bitter divisions within the FLN are ignored. The Battle of Algiers contains some disturbing scenes of torture on the part of the French.

The World: Film Studies; What Does the Pentagon See in ‘Battle of Algiers’? Many in this latter category were 2nd, 3rd, even 4th-generation descendants of Europeans who had colonized the region in the 19th century and had never before taken a step in mainland France. Both sides also worked toward the United Nations discussion on the issue, each wanting global support for their cause.

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